


The Times They Are  A-Change(ling)

by Writeofyourlife



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV), Wynonna Earp (TV) RPF
Genre: Angel of Healing Waverly, F/F, F/M, Wayhaught - Freeform, Willa Earp is there, but sorta, casually bending folk lore for this, it is what it is i guess?, nicole's not so human, not exactly, yeah kevins here too
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-02
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2020-10-05 20:49:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20495126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writeofyourlife/pseuds/Writeofyourlife
Summary: It's been a year since they lost Waverly to the garden, since Doc, not so mortal Doc, had somehow managed to follow in her pursuit. And about ten months since Wynonna and Nedley had brought the town back... ten months since Nicole had learnt that Waverly was just... gone. It was taking to long to find answers, Nicole feeling it with everything she is, a shadow of her former self, something inside her beginning to darken at her core as the days continue to pass without word. The more time passed, the harder it became for Nicole to ignore the feeling of dread, the aching that told her that whatever happened.. it wouldn't end well.





	The Times They Are  A-Change(ling)

**Author's Note:**

> So I haven't written Fanfic in a while so this was super fun. Saw a theory about Nicole that I really liked the idea of and my brain kinda just went ahead and ran away with it. Hope if you're reading this that you enjoy it, shout out to my amazing Beta D who you can find on twitter over here >> @SpaghettiRules  
And if on the off chance you want to drop me a little message or two you can find me here >> @AChavner  
Anywayyyy yeah, thanks for taking the time to read my imagination rambling on!

Nicole blinked, the meat of her palms rubbing against her eyes, desperately trying to adjust to the light. It was blinding, an unnatural kind of light that burrowed behind your eyes and instantly made your head pound, but still she tried. Blurry, silver shapes beginning to form across the scene through squinted lids. It still took a good few minutes of fighting to keep her eyes open, her hand instinctively coming to her brow to shield her from the light of the… _sun?_ ... Before she could make out her surroundings completely. She was in a kind of clearing, tree’s towering around her on all sides, an unfamiliar feeling of serenity settling in her chest, a sensation she had all but forgotten over the past year.

“Nicole?” A voice carried across the clearing from an unknown direction, Nicole’s heart seizing in her chest at the soft familiar tones, almost a whisper in the wind. Her name began to form on Nicole’s lips but the word caught in her throat and morphed into nothing more than a pained whimper, her eye’s frantically scanning the tree line as she tried to locate the source of the sound. “Nicole?” There it was again, just as quiet, just as distant as the first time. This time Nicole found her voice. “Waverly!” She shouted, tears stinging her eyes as she continued to search for the source of the voice. “Come on baby, one more time, just say my name one more time and I’ll find you, I swear to god I’ll find you.” Nicole reasoned, with herself more than anything.

“Nicole, baby?” came Waverly’s answer, as if by magic. Nicole’s eyes settled on a spot between the trees, finally able to locate the direction of Waverly’s voice. She was still a distance away from her, her features undistinguishable, but she would know Waverly anywhere. “Waverly!” Nicole called out again, the joy evident in her tone as she wiped a few stray tears from her cheeks, her hands moving to tuck stray strands of red behind her ears. “Wait there baby! I’m coming! Don’t move.” She shouted, a wide smile on her face as she broke into a run. Finally, it would be all over. All the pain of the last year melting away at the prospect of just being able to hold Waverly again after all this time. She was safe. She was here. Nicole would bring her home.

“What the fuck?” Nicole exclaimed to herself, her body slamming into some invisible force in front of her. The air shimmered and rippled like water where her body had collided with it. “Waverly!” Nicole shouted again, beating her fist against the seemingly solid air again, the threat of tears quickly returning as a dread washed over her. “Nicole…” Waverly answered, her voice sounding further away despite the ground Nicole had covered. “Waves!” Nicole answered the first tears escaping her eyes and making tracks down her cheeks. “I think this is as far as I go baby…” Nicole whimpered, her head falling against whatever force it was keeping her there, pressing herself just that little bit closer toward Waverly.

“Nicole.” Waverly’s voice echoed. “It’s okay, I’m okay baby.” Her voice continued, each word feeling father and father away from Nicole. Slamming her palms desperately into the force in a final naive attempt break it, Nicole watched Waverly’s small form slowly drift like smoke, away from her until she was gone. “Waverly!” Nicole screamed again, this time the words ripping from her throat with such force it burned, something inside her heart darkening as it broke just that little bit more. Nicole sank to the silver grass below as her knees buckled beneath her, her chest heaving as her body wracked with sobs, the world descending into darkness.

***

“Hey! Hey! Haught!” Nicole registered Wynonna’s voice above her a little too late as she sat bolt upright in her bed, well…Waverly’s bed actually. Wynonna just about managed to drag herself out of the way before Nicole’s head connected with her chest instead of her face. “Woah there Haught stuff, you could have just asked.” Wynonna teased with a smirk, taking a quick step back from the bed. It took mere moments for Nicole to remember where she was, where she’d been for months now, her eyes darkening as she turned her attention on Wynonna. “Get out.” She spat bitterly at the older Earp.

“Seriously?” Wynonna scoffed back at her, her arms crossing against her chest with a quirk of her eyebrow, only serving to infuriate Nicole further. “I’d have thought you’d have gotten the message by now, I don’t want you around me. But hey, you always did seem to be slower at catching on than everyone else, didn’t you?” Nicole bit back, her fingers combing her hair from her face. Wynonna didn’t bother responding, just rolled her eyes, a hurt expression flashing across her face for the briefest of moments before she disappeared back to her own room.

Nicole sank back down on the bed, a sigh of relief escaping her lips as she stared up at the ceiling, thankful to have once again been left alone in the dark. Wynonna had been doing that, waking Nicole from her nightmares, for months now. Pretty much since Valdez had returned them all to Purgatory, but it was entirely unwanted. In fact, she could rarely even stand the sight of Wynonna anymore.

Nicole had gone to the homestead as soon as she found herself back, her first instinct being to find Waverly and Wynonna, make sure that both the Earp sisters were still in one piece. Despite herself she’d actually been happy to see Wynonna at first, sat on the front porch with whiskey bottle in hand like nothing had changed at all. Everything was as it should be, her body betraying her as she ran and flung her arms around Wynonna, pulling her into a bone crushing hug.

The joy she’d felt in that moment had turned sour pretty quickly after that. If she closed her eyes she could still hear some of Wynonna’s words echoing around inside her head. _“Waverly’s gone. The garden. Doc’s gone too. We’ll get her back.”_ Of course, Wynonna had had infinitely more to say than that but that was all Nicole had heard, just key phrases made it through the fog and stuck in her mind. After that, there was only one thought whenever she looked at Wynonna. _You drugged me. You drugged me and then you lost her._ Wynonna hadn’t even given her the chance to help. Nicole loved Waverly and Wynonna knew it too. Yet she had taken away Nicole’s option of being there. Maybe if she was there she could have helped. Saved her.

Nicole’s expression contorted in pain and anger as she continued to stare absently at the ceiling above her, her fingers picking at the sheets beneath her as she contemplated going back to sleep. It didn’t take long however for the realisation that she was likely done for yet another night to sink in, though this was basically routine for Nicole now. Groaning as she stretched out her legs, Nicole dragged herself to her feet, grabbing a blanket from bed to wrap around her shoulders, before heading for the door.

Nicole made her usual detour through the kitchen, briefly scanning the contents of the fridge before reaching for what she ultimately came in here for, kicking the fridge shut behind her as she made her way to the sofa. “Don’t look at me like that Waves, it’s five pm somewhere in the world.” Nicole joked, holding a beer up to an old family photo that sat above the fireplace. It was an odd habit, talking to an inanimate object, in fact Nicole was sure she was starting to go a little mad, but it brought her a deluded kind of comfort.

The beer made a satisfying fizz as the cap screwed off easily. A flick of her wrist later and Nicole heard the satisfying_** ‘tink’**_ of metal hitting metal, the discarded cap landing on top of the small pile in the corner of the room that had been slowly building for weeks now. Ordinarily it wasn’t like her to live so untidily, but between not sleeping, Wynonna’s general devil may care attitude to housework, and putting in as many hours at work as she could in an attempt to stay busy, things had gotten a little out of hand lately.

“Drinking alone again Haught?” Wynonna’s voice came from behind her, utterly unaffected by their altercation earlier it seems, making Nicole jump a little as it disturbed the silence. “Not anymore is seems.” Nicole grumbled in way of reply, mostly shrugging Wynonna off and turning her attention back to her beer, draining more than half the bottle easily. “One of those nights then.” Wynonna stated, sauntering past Nicole and slumping into the armchair across from the red head. Nicole just shot her a look in response, sinking the rest of her beer and tossing the bottle aside. 

Nicole was contemplating fetching another from the fridge when Wynonna interrupted her thoughts once again. “Come on, if you’re going to drink in front of me, at least do it properly.” Her words were teasing but, if the expression on Wynonna’s face was anything to go by, they were meant to be understanding. Nicole didn’t say anything for a moment, her body stiffening at Wynonna’s nonchalance. “Oh come on, just take the goddamn drink.” Wynonna continued, offering a half empty bottle of amber liquid she’d been casually sipping toward Nicole.

Nicole just scoffed, leaning forward just enough to snatch the bottle from Wynonna with a roll of her eyes. “You’re welcome.” Wynonna sneered, leaning back in the chair to put her feet up on the coffee table. “Ummhmm.” Nicole hummed, the whiskey burning her mouth and warming her insides as she took the first swig. “How long are you gonna keep this up Haught pants? This whole… dark and broody thing, usually it’s right up my alley but on you… it just looks weird.” Wynonna probed, reaching across to retrieve the bottle as Nicole wiped her mouth on the back of her hand with a light cough.

“Really?” Nicole breathed. “You. You of all people. Are going to try and lecture me about dark and broody?” Nicole couldn’t help but laugh, it wasn’t friendly though, she was laughing at her. Wynonna was ridiculous. “Ordinarily I’d say fair enough…” Wynonna said with a shrug, taking a swig and passing the bottle back to Nicole. “But..?” Nicole probed without thinking, mentally berating herself for encouraging this pointless conversation. “But… What would Waverly think?” Wynonna asked, her voice in all fairness a little pained at the mention of the youngest Earp.

“Don’t Wynonna.” Nicole warned, feeling that darkness in her chest twist and contort painfully at Wynonna’s words. Nicole had acknowledged a while ago that whatever this darkness she was feeling wasn’t something she could ignore; it was making her dangerous. “Don’t.” She reiterated, bringing the bottle back to her lips, eyes trained daringly on Wynonna. As much as she didn’t want to hear it, part of her hoped Wynonna would try and push it, a thrill igniting inside her at the prospect of Wynonna giving her a reason to finally land a punch.

“Fine.” Wynonna sighed, snatching the bottle back once more. “But can you at least get over this whole, ‘being mad at me thing’ then.” Wynonna continued, accentuating her words with wildly misused air quotes. “The mad at you thing?” Nicole mimicked with a scoff. “You’re unbelievable.” Nicole exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. “So I’ve been told.” Wynonna drawled, her signature shit-eating grin ever present despite the building tension in the room.

“You know what your problem is Wynonna?” Nicole began, not even close to being done when Wynonna’s voice cut across her own. “Oh do tell, I mean, many a doctor would tell you I’ve got more than just the one but, please, tell me, what’s my problem Haught?” Wynonna finished, her fingers lacing together where they rested on her crossed knee’s. “See that. Exactly _that!_ This is all your fault Wynonna! And you’re just sat there, doing, _what exactly?_ Trying to get a rise out of me for a laugh or two?” Nicole shouted, her body rising to her feet and looming further over Wynonna with every word. 

“Okay, first of all...” Wynonna began, her tongue pressed firmly to her cheek as she leant back in the chair a little more, leaning away from Nicole, “back off Haught.” She continued, pressing her foot into Nicole’s stomach, adding slow pressure to ease the red head out of her space a little. “Second of all, this is hardly _**all** _my fault. It’s at best, a like… twenty/eighty sort of situation.” Wynonna finished, her foot still firmly planted on Nicole, a warning to keep her distance.

“How could you possibly believe that Wynonna!” Nicole scoffed, that familiar darkness twisting and building in her chest as her eyes darted between the brunette and the foot placed on her stomach. “You weren’t there Haught, you have no idea what happened out there, you don’t get to tell me this was my fault! I feel bad enough without your shit!” Wynonna seethed, her frustration snapping like a tightly wound coil and spilling over into anger, removing her foot just enough to give Nicole a swift enough kick to knock her ass back down on the couch.

“Why wasn’t I there Wynonna?” Nicole challenged, her voice taking on an edge even she didn’t recognise as her own. A low and dangerous growl emphasising every word. Much to Nicole’s satisfaction, a look that closely resembled shame flashed in Wynonna’s eye, but it didn’t last long. Replaced with a single arched eyebrow and an expression of wary curiosity, as Wynonna hauled herself from her chair. “Haught…?” Wynonna tested as if Nicole had suddenly been replaced with a wild animal, one hand held out in front of her that looked awfully like she was trying to back down from a threat. “Really Wynonna? Don’t act like you’re afraid of me, as much as I’d give you a run for your money I’m not sure how long I’d last against _the_ angel named guardian.” Nicole admitted, her voice returning to its normal pitch now the anger was subsiding, replaced with confusion.

“Yeah well I’m not so sure of that Haught stuff.” Wynonna confessed, her eyebrows knit together in a frown as her head cocked to one side. “You’re deflecting.” Nicole argued, shoving her hands into the deep pockets of her pj bottoms. Wynonna always did this, the second Nicole started to win the argument she would somehow change the subject, this was however overly theatrical, even for Wynonna. “Nope, it’s my fault you weren’t there, yup you’re right. But I think we might have bigger problems.” Wynonna explained, still keeping a safe distance but seemingly more relaxed than just moments before. “Bigger problems than Waverly and Doc being stuck in the garden and a thousand-year-old Mayan princess running around taking and returning the entire town for whatever reason, that neither of us or Jeremy have been able to figure out yet. Bigger problems than that Wynonna, really?” Nicole argued in utter disbelief, eye’s wide as she waited for whatever ridiculous thing Wynonna would say next.

“Yes.” Wynonna stated bluntly with a shrug. “What the hell could possibly be worse than that?” Nicole laughed breathily, her eyes cast to the ceiling as the frustration started to boil over. “Urm…all those things are really bad, yes, **but** would be a _**w h o l e**_ lot worse if the Sheriff of Purgatory happened to be like, some crazy demon, vampire, kill-all-human’s kind of problem, right?” Wynonna queried, her body language expressive, punctuating her words with fun lip smacking pops as she stumbled over her words. It was almost like she was nervously trying to make light of a terrible situation. “Okay… Yeah that would be bad, but I’m the Sheriff, so can you stop, whatever all this is now?” Nicole continued, her hand purposefully gesturing to all of Wynonna in emphasis as she let the ‘this’ roll off her tongue slowly.

“You are the Sheriff yes, that is also correct. Lots of good points being made tonight Haught, good job.” Wynonna smirked, shooting fingers guns at Nicole, but her playful demeanour never meet her eyes. “Oh for God’s sake Wynonna, what is it?” Nicole snapped, officially done with whatever joke Wynonna was trying to make, it was time for the punchline already. “I don’t exactly know how to say this… Oh I know!” Wynonna exclaimed, discarding the whiskey bottle on the chair and disappearing into the hallway. Nicole just stood utterly bemused, as she heard banging and clattering mixed with Wynonna’s grunts and mutter cusses as she obviously fought with something heavy out in the hall. “Okay. Don’t freak out okay?” Wynonna reasoned, her arms struggling to hold up what Nicole recognised as the mirror that was usually by the door as you came in.

“Oh my god Wynonna, just stop! This isn’t funny, I don’t even know, I mean, just what the hell.” Nicole tripped over her words, fighting between a whole plethora of emotions; confusion, discomfort, frustration, intrigue, fear. She knew it was ridiculous but, despite her better judgment, Wynonna was starting to make her a little nervous, she was sure she would regret that very soon. “Just...” Wynonna cut in trying to silence her. “Just don’t freak out okay, because if you freak then I’m gonna freak and we all know I can be a little trigger happy.” Wynonna shrugged apologetically, technically Peacemaker was a sword now, so there wasn’t actually a _trigger_… but she could still throw it at Nicole, right?

“Whatever.” Nicole relented, her right hand coming to rub some of the tension from her brow, this was ridiculous. “Okay. One... two… three…” Wynonna counted as she struggled to turn the mirror around, letting Nicole’s weary expression stare back at her on three. “Oh. Shit.” Nicole stated bluntly as she locked eyes with her reflection, she should be more horrified… she _was_ more horrified, but after everything that had happened since she’d moved to Purgatory this sorta just felt like… Another day at the office maybe? “So Jeremy then?” Nicole continued, her eyes flicking between Wynonna and her reflection. Glowing red eye’s shining back at her, matching her hair where her brown eyes should be. “Yup.” Wynonna seconded with another exaggerated pop as she carefully sat the mirror on the floor, leaning it against the sofa before heading to the front door, Nicole hot on her heels.


End file.
